Welcome to the World's First Great Big Vegetable Challenge! Six years ago we went on a vegetable journey of a lifetime. A 7 year year old boy named Freddie and his mother faced up to the challenge of turning him from a Vegetable-Phobic into a boy who will eat and even enjoy some of life's leafier pleasures. We ate through the alphabet of vegetables...and returned to tell the tale. Join our Great Big Veg Challenge!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Four out of ten for a Waldorf Salad

Freddie's face says it all. He gave a mean four out of ten for my Waldorf Salad. Now there aren't that many recipes starring celery and I did the hard-sell on this one, talking about the Maitre D' Oscar Tschirky at his luxurious hotel in New York. We all visited New York last autumn and Freddie loved it, so I thought it might influence him. No such luck. (And I caramelised the walnuts so that they were delicious...) This is the closest thing to a salad that I have served Freddie during our GreatBigVegChallenge and it was a little too threatening, too green. Anyhow the rest of the family loved it and his sister Alexandra was impressed so here is the recipe for you.

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl. Put to one side. Roughly chop the walnut pieces. Core and slice the apples with the peel on. Place apples in a bowl with the lemon juice and mix it up. Add the celery and season. Line a salad bowl with the lettuce leaves and spoon in the salad mixture, pour over the dressing and scatter the walnut pieces on top.

5 comments:

Can't say I blame him, I'm not a huge fan of Waldorf Salad. Weird really because I like all the ingredients separately, just not together. I'm not big on fruit in my salads generally mind you.

Have you tried eating the celery on it's own? My grandparents has a special tall celery bowl - kinda like a vase - the sticks of celery would be presented in it at the tea table and then we would put a little mound of salt on the side of our plates and dip the long celery stick in it. Take, dip, bite, dip, bit, dip, bite....it was great fun - bascially being allowed to play with our food - and tasted good too.

Celery is also an excellent thing to add, chopped small, to soups, stews etc - apparently it has umami, that fifth flavour, that adds flavour to foods just by being there. Sort of a natural MSG.

Why not try a grape/celery salad? If Freddie enjoys bleu cheese, this may do the trick. It's fun, since it is mostly fruit, but it is a great side dish for a spring/summer meal.

Take a good amount of seedless grapes (red, green, or a combination) - this is usually about a pound and combine in a bowl with 3/4 of a celery bunch, finely chopped (adds crunch, but hard to tell the actual item). Then add a couple of handfuls of slivered almonds, a handful of crumbled bleu cheese, and stir in bleu cheese dressing, to taste.

There is also an option to include cilantro for additional flavor, however I sometimes find it too pungent.

Of course, there is always the option of topping celery stalks with peanut butter and raisins - it was always a childhood favorite snack of mine!

I think this blog is a wonderful idea, and have been enjoying reading about your adventures. Keep at it, Freddie! You're doing great, and your fans want you to succeed!